Liquid-Tight Assembly of Base and Cover Members in an Advertisement Food Tray

ABSTRACT

An advertising food tray features a base, an informational insert on a topside of the base, an at least partially transparent cover for placement over the informational insert, a liquid-tight seal spanning around a perimeter of the insert between the base and cover, a plurality of peripheral tabs defined on a first one of either the base or the cover and a matching plurality of peripheral slots defined on a second one of either the base or the cover. An elongated locking member is received between the base and the cover on a peripheral path that passes between each peripheral slot and the respective one of the peripheral tabs, and thereby compresses the seal between the base and cover to maintain a liquid tight seal around the insert, which is thereby protected from damage during use and cleaning of same.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to food trays that are used incafeterias, food courts and the like and incorporate a removableadvertisement insert, and more particularly to a unique solution forassembling such food trays in a manner achieving a liquid-tight sealaround the advertisement insert.

BACKGROUND

Prior art has previously proposed to provide a tray with an advertisingor other informational display by mounting an informational insertbetween the tray and a transparent or translucent cover.

Examples of such prior art can be found in Patent and Patent ApplicationPublications CH149581, JP7047024, U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,411,US20020096529, US20060243632, US20060253322, WO9003140, WO1999029217,CA2819051 and CA2841183.

However, there remains room for improvement, and a particular need foran advertisement-capable food tray that enables simple rotation orreplacement of advertisement inserts while providing a water-tightdishwasher-safe design in which the advertising content is safeguardedfrom liquid penetration during use of the food tray and cleaning ofsame.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a food traycomprising:

a base having a main base area for receiving placement of aninformational insert on a topside of said main base area;

a cover having a main cover area for placement over the topside of themain base area so as to overlie the informational insert, at least aportion of the main cover area being transparent or translucent todefine a viewing window that enables viewing of the informational insertthrough the cover;

a liquid-tight seal placed, or arranged for placement, in a positionspanning around a perimeter of the main base area on the topside thereofin sealed contact between the main base area and the main cover area toseal off the main base area and the informational insert from externalliquids;

a plurality of peripheral tabs defined on a first one of either the baseor the cover;

a plurality of peripheral slots defined on a second one of either thebase or the cover, a layout pattern of the peripheral slots matching alayout of the peripheral tabs to align each of said peripheral slotswith a respective one of the peripheral tabs and enable relativemovement of the peripheral tabs through said peripheral slots duringplacement of the main cover area over the main base area; and

at least one elongated locking member received or receivable between thebase and the cover on a peripheral path that spans around the main basearea and passes between each peripheral slot and the respective one ofthe peripheral tabs.

Preferably the at least one elongated locking member comprises a wirerod.

Preferably the at least one elongated locking member consists solely ofa singular locking member whose length is sufficient to span multiplesides of the peripheral path around the main base area.

Preferably there is provided a gripping tab projecting outward from aperimeter edge of one of either the base or the cover for use prying thebase and the cover apart from one another during disassembly of the foodtray.

Preferably the gripping tab extends through a corresponding opening in awall of the other one of either the base or the cover.

Preferably the gripping tab is defined on the base.

Preferably the peripheral tabs project into a hollow cavity of the firstone of either the base or the cover, and the second one of either thebase or the cover is at least partially received within the hollowcavity.

Preferably the peripheral tabs are defined on the cover, and theperipheral slots are defined on the base,

Preferably the peripheral tabs project inwardly from a lower peripheralwall of the cover that spans around the main cover area of the cover dodelimit the hollow cavity at an underside thereof that faces the topsideof the main base area, and the locking member is received between thetabs and an underside of the base.

Preferably the lower peripheral wall of the cover has the opening forthe gripping tab situated therein at a lower edge thereof that liesopposite to the main cover area, and the gripping tab projects outwardlyaway from a peripheral edge of the base at which the peripheral slotsare defined, the gripping tab being received, or positioned for receipt,in the opening to present a gripping point for removal of the base fromthe cover.

Preferably the peripheral slots project inwardly from an outermostperimeter of the base.

Preferably the cover comprises upper peripheral tray walls spanningaround the main cover area at a topside thereof that faces away from themain base area and defines a food-carrying surface of the food tray.

Preferably at least one of either the tray or the cover features a seatfor retaining the seal in the position spanning around the perimeter ofthe main base area.

Preferably the seat comprises a trough spanning around the around theperimeter of the main base area.

Preferably the other of the tray or the cover comprises a raised featurethat juts therefrom at a location residing between walls of the seat inorder to force the seal tightly against the seat

Preferably the seat is defined on the cover.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective topside view of a food tray assembly accordingto a first embodiment the present invention in an exploded unassembledstate.

FIG. 2 is a perspective topside view of a base of the food tray assemblyof FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the base of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective underside view of a cover of the food trayassembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective underside view of the food tray assembly of FIG.1 in its assembled state.

FIG. 6 is a partial close-up underside perspective view of the food trayassembly of FIG. 5.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the different figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a first embodiment food tray device 10of the present invention, which is assembled from a transparenttray-shaped cover 12, a generally flat rectangular base member 14, aprinted informational insert 16, a resilient seal 18, and a wire lockrod 20. When the device is assembled, the insert 16 and the seal 18 aresandwiched between the base 14 and the cover 12 so that printedinformation on the insert is readable through the transparent cover 12.The wire lock rod 20 secures the base and cover together, thereby alsoretaining the seal and information insert in place in the finalassembled unit.

The cover 12 features a rectangular main panel 24 whose four-sidedperimeter at the topside 24 a thereof defines a pair of longer front andrear edges 24 b, and two shorter side edges 24 c that lie parallel andopposite to one another to join the front and rear edges at both endsthereof. Upper front and rear walls 26 stands upward from the base panel24 along the front and rear edges 24 b thereof. A pair of upper sidewalls 28 stand upward from the base panel 24 along the opposing sideedges thereof, and each extend fully between the front and rear walls26. The side walls incline slightly outward from the respective edges ofthe base panel. The upper front, rear and side walls collectively forman upper peripheral wall spanning fully around the perimeter of thecover's main panel 24. A side flange 30 projects laterally outward fromeach side wall 28, 30 over a full or partial span of its length, therebyforming a respective one of two handles at opposite ends of theassembled tray for manual carrying of same by a user.

With reference to FIG. 4, a lower peripheral wall spanning around theentire perimeter of the cover's main panel 24 is likewise defined at theunderside 24 d thereof by a pair of parallel front and rear walls 32running along the front and rear edges of the rectangular main panel 24,and a pair of parallel side walls 34 running along the two side edges ofthe rectangular main panel. Each lower wall 32, 34 standsperpendicularly from the plane of the main panel 24 of the cover 12.With continued reference to FIG. 4, a plurality of peripheral tabs 36project inwardly from the lower peripheral walls 32, 34 at spaced apartpositions around the perimeter of the cover's main panel. While theillustrated embodiment features five such tabs 36 on each of the longerfront and rear lower walls 32, and four such tabs on each of the shorterside walls 34, the number of tabs per wall and the total overall numberof tabs may vary. The tabs reside in a common plane lying parallel tothat of the cover's main panel 24, at a lower edge of the lowerperipheral wall that lies distally of the cover's main panel 24. Stillreferring to FIG. 4, a pair of shorter perimeter walls 38 situated ashort distance inwardly of the tabbed peripheral wall 32, 34 likewisestand perpendicularly from the plane of the cover's main panel at theunderside thereof and span around the perimeter of the cover's mainpanel 24. The space between these walls defines a trough-like seat 40spanning a peripheral path around the perimeter of the cover's mainpanel 24 at the underside thereof.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, the base 14 features a rectangular mainpanel 42 of its own, which shares the same size and shape as the mainpanel of the cover 12, therefore likewise having a longer pair ofparallel front and rear edges, and a shorter pair of parallel side edgeslying perpendicularly thereto. On a topside 42 a of the base's mainpanel 42, a pair of short peripheral walls 38 a, 38 b standperpendicularly upward therefrom along the perimeter of the base panel42 at a distance inward therefrom, similar to the trough walls 38 of thecover. An outer one of these short peripheral walls 38 a resides nearerto the outer perimeter of the base 14 than the other one of these walls38 b, which is therefore referred to as an inner peripheral wall. Theouter peripheral wall 38 a follows a generally rectangular path alongthe perimeter of the base that is slightly larger than the rectangularpath of the inner one of the two trough-walls 38 of the cover 12, butslightly smaller than the rectangular path of the outer one of the twotrough-walls 38 of the cover 12. As a result, when the base and coverare mated together during the assembly of the tray, the outer peripheralwall 38 a of the base is centered between the two trough-walls 38 of thecover 12. As a result, the outer preripheral wall 38 a presses againstthe seal 18 that is seated within the trough-shaped seat 40 delimited bythe trough-walls 38.

A grid 44 of perpendicularly crossing walls lie inwardly of the innerwall 38 b, and interconnect opposing sides thereof. The grid walls 44share equal height to the inner peripheral wall 38 b so that upper edgesof the grid 44 and the inner peripheral wall 38 b reside within a commonplane that is parallel to the plane of the base's main panel 42. Thegridded area inside of the short peripheral walls defines a main area ofthe base 14 onto which the printed informational insert 16 is placedduring the assembly of the tray, with printed content of the insertfacing upwardly away from the underlying main panel 42 and grid 44 ofthe base so that when the transparent cover 12 is secured overtop of thebase, the printed content is visible through the cover. In anotherembodiment, the grid 44 may be omitted, and the informational insertplaced directly on the topside 42 a of the base's main panel 42. Theshort inner peripheral wall 38 b of the short peripheral walls maypresent a border around the grid to help maintain the informationalinsert in place.

At the very outer perimeter of the base 14 outside the short peripheralwalls 38 a, 38 b, a plurality of peripheral slots 46 jut inwardlytherefrom. These slots 46 are equal in number and spacing to the tabs 36on the cover, whereby the shared layout of the tabs and slots allowsalignment of each slot with a respective one of the tabs during assemblyof the tray. Like the tabs, the slots may be identical to one another,and the width of each slot (as measured along the respective perimeteredge of the base) slightly exceeds the width of the respective tab (asmeasured along the respective lower peripheral wall 32, 34 of the cover12). This way, each tab can pass relatively through the respective slotduring the mating together of the base and cover, as described herein infurther detail below.

At one corner of the base 14, a gripping tab 48 juts outwardly from thesame perimeter edge of the base 14 in which the slots 46 are formed,thereby defining an outermost extent of the base that resides outwardlyof the entire remainder of the base. With reference to FIG. 4, a cut-outopening 50 juts into the lower peripheral wall of the cover 12 from thelower edge thereof at a corresponding corner of the cover. The width ofthe cover's cut-out opening 50 slightly exceeds that of the base'sgripping tab 48 in order to accommodate of the gripping tab 48 in thecut-out opening 50 during assembly of the tray. It will be appreciatedthat the term “cut-out” is used only to describe the absence of wallmaterial at this space, and not to denote that this open space mustspecifically be formed by “cutting away” a previously present portion ofthe outer wall. For example, the cut-out may be an ever-present integralfeature of a moulded or vacuum-formed cover 12.

With reference to FIG. 1, the seal 18 forms a continuous, generallyrectangular loop of equal dimension to the rectangular trough-shapedseat 40 defined at the underside of the cover 14. To assemble the tray,the seal 18 is placed into the trough-shaped seat 40 of the cover 12,which acts to achieve and maintain the proper position of the seal onceseated. The informational insert 16 is placed on the grid 44 of the base14 in the main area thereof surrounded by the short peripheral walls 38a, 38 b. In the illustrated embodiment, the insert 16 has a rectangularshape occupying a substantial majority of the insert-accommodating areaof the base to maximum the use of available advertising space. With theinsert 16 and seal 18 in place, the cover 12 is then aligned overtop ofthe base (i.e. to align the cover tabs with the base slots, and alignthe outer peripheral wall 38 a of the base between the two trough-walls38 of the cover), and the cover 12 is lowered down toward the base.Sufficient lowering of the cover onto the base brings the base into theempty lower cavity of the cover that is delimited at the undersidethereof by the lower peripheral wall 32, 34. During this step, the tabs36 of the cover move downward through the slots 46 of the base, and thegripping tab 48 of the base 14 moves relatively upward into the cut-outopening 50 in the lower peripheral wall of the cover 12.

The described ‘lowering’ of the cover into place, and other referencesto ‘upper’, ‘lower’ and other vertically direction terms, are used withparticular reference to the tray orientation shown in FIG. 1 (in whichthe tray would normally be used to place food on the topside 24 a of thecover's main panel 24), but it will be appreciated that the tray mayalternatively be assembled in the upside down orientation shown in FIG.5, in which case the cover and base are inverted from their illustratedorientations of FIG. 1, and the base is lowered into place into thecavity of the cover after seating of the informational insert on thecavity-facing side of the cover's main panel with the seal 18surrounding the informational insert in the trough-like seat extendingtherearound.

Turning to FIG. 5, the assembly of the tray is completed by forcing thewire lock rod 20 into the space between each tab 36 of the cover and theplane of the flat underside 42 b of the main panel 42 of the base 14.Like the seal 18, the wire lock rod 20 is in the form of a generallyrectangular loop, where each of the four linear segments of the loopcorresponds to a respective side of the rectangular shape of the mainpanels of the base and cover. By forcing each segment of the wire-lockrod into place under the tabs at the respective side of the cover'slower cavity, the wire lock rod occupies an installed position spanninga peripheral path around the advertisement supporting area of the baseat the slotted outer periphery thereof. The distal end of each tab has adownturned lip 36 a that juts toward the main panels of the cover andbase.

Each tab of the illustrated embodiment is resiliently cantilevered fromthe peripheral wall of the cover, and in the normal relaxed position ofeach tab in the assembled state of the tray, the clearance between thelip 36 a and the underside 42 b of the base's main panel 42 is slightlyless than the diameter of the wire lock rod 20. This way, forcing therod into its installed position past the lipped distal ends of the tabsflexes the tabs momentarily out of their normal positions, whereupon theresiliency of the tabs returns them back into their normal relaxedpositions, in which the lip 36 a blocks exit of the wire rod 20 out fromunder the tabs.

The distance from the underside 24 d of the cover's main panel to thedefault relaxed position of the unlipped area of the tab is greater thanthe sum of the base's thickness and the lock rod's diameter, but lessthan the sum of the base's thickness, the lock rod's diameter, and theuncompressed natural thickness or diameter of the seal 18. As a result,forcing the wire lock rod 20 between the base 14 and the cover's tabs 36acts to compress the seal 18 between the trough-shaped seat 40, of thecover 12 and the outer peripheral wall 38 a of the base, therebyachieving a liquid-tight seal between the base and the cover around theentire perimeter of the informational insert 16 that is sandwichedbetween them. As a raised feature on the underside of the cover's mainpanel, the outer peripheral wall 38 a effectively bites into the surfaceof the seal 18 to ensure full contact of the seal with both the coverand the tray and achieve a proper seal therebetween. As a result, thetray is dishwasher safe, with the liquid-tight seal protecting theinformational insert 16 against water damage during hand or machinecleaning of the tray.

Should one wish to change the advertising or other informational contentof the tray, one can manually grasp the gripping tab 48, the length ofwhich projects outwardly beyond the lower periphery wall of the cover 12through the cut-out opening 50 therein, and pull the tab 48 away fromthe main panel 24 of the cover 12. With sufficient pulling force, thelipped ends 36 a of the resilient peripheral tabs 36 of the cover flexsufficiently far away from the cover's main panel 24 to allow the wirelock rod 20 to pop out from under the tabs 36, thereby releasing theclamped condition between the base 14 and the cover 12. The base is thenfully withdrawn from the hollow cavity of the cover, thereby enablingremoval of the existing informational insert 16 and replacement thereofwith an insert of different informational content.

The informational insert may have printed advertising or otherinformation or indicia on any one of more of its different portions. Inthe illustrated embodiments, the top tray is transparent or sufficientlytranslucent over its full expanse to maximize the possible advertisingspace of the assembled tray by allowing viewing of the insert over thefull area of the trays. Other embodiments may employ one or moretranslucent or transparent viewing windows spanning only partialportions of the overall upper tray, with other portions of the uppertray being opaque or otherwise obscured.

The cover and base are preferably formed of sufficiently rigid moldedplastic, although other materials or constructions capable of providinga full or partial area viewing window in the cover and sufficientrigidity in the overall tray assembly to support the weight of food andbeverage items may be employed. The base may be opaque, transparent ortranslucent. In embodiments where the base is transparent over at leasta portion of its surface area, the insert may be printed on both sidesto enable viewing of information on the insert through both the top trayand bottom tray. The insert may be made of paper or cardstock, or otherrelatively thin materials or structures capable of displayingadvertising or other information printed or otherwise displayed on theinsert.

While the illustrated embodiment employs a single wire rod of steel orother metal that spans the entire periphery of the base, it may bepossible to employ other materials, for example plastic, and use shorterindividual wire rods respectively installed at different sides of thebase's perimeter. In addition, locking members of different shape orstructure than a round wire rod may alternatively be employed in asimilar manner to cooperate with the tabs to clamp the cover and basetogether and compress the seal therebetween into a sealed conditionbetween the two. At minimum, the seal should be liquid tight to preventpenetration by water or other liquids, but preferably the seal iseffective against all fluid transfer, thereby preventing air, gases,steam, water vapour, etc. from gaining access to the informationalinsert inside the tray. While the illustrated embodiment provides aseal-accommodating seat on the cover and a seal-biting raised feature onthe base, other embodiments may instead have the seal seated on the baseand the raised seal-biting wall or feature on the cover. A prototype ofthe invention employs a silicone seal, but other resilient materials mayalternatively be used.

While the first embodiment features a generally rectangular tray, itwill be appreciated that other tray shapes may be used, includingpolygonal trays of varying numbers of sides, circular trays, or trays ofvarious irregular shapes. Also, it will be appreciated that the tabs andslots need not necessarily be respectively found on the cover and base,and other embodiments could alternatively have the tabs on the base andthe slots on the cover. For example, with reference to the inverted trayposition shown in FIG. 5, the illustrated base 14 could alternatively beconsidered to be the cover if made of transparent or translucentmaterial that would allow viewing of the informational insert throughsurface 42 b, on which food items could be placed. The illustrated cover12 would therefore serve as the base on which the informational insert16 is seated.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein abovedescribed, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same madewithin the scope of the claims without departure from such scope, it isintended that all matter contained in the accompanying specificationshall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

1. A food tray comprising: a base having a main base area for receivingplacement of an informational insert on a topside of said main basearea; a cover having a main cover area for placement over the topside ofthe main base area so as to overlie the informational insert, at least aportion of the main cover area being transparent or translucent todefine a viewing window that enables viewing of the informational insertthrough the cover; a liquid-tight seal placed, or arranged forplacement, in a position spanning around a perimeter of the main basearea on the topside thereof in sealed contact between the main base areaand the main cover area to seal off the main base area and theinformational insert from external liquids; a plurality of peripheraltabs defined on a first one of either the base or the cover; a pluralityof peripheral slots defined on a second one of either the base or thecover, a layout pattern of the peripheral slots matching a layout of theperipheral tabs to align each of said peripheral slots with a respectiveone of the peripheral tabs and enable relative movement of theperipheral tabs through said peripheral slots during placement of themain cover area over the main base area; and at least one elongatedlocking member received or receivable between the base and the cover ona peripheral path that spans around the main base area and passesbetween each peripheral slot and the respective one of the peripheraltabs.
 2. The food tray of claim 1 wherein the at least one elongatedlocking member comprises a wire rod.
 3. The food tray of claim 1 whereinthe at least one elongated locking member consists solely of a singularlocking member whose length is sufficient to span multiple sides of theperipheral path around the main base area.
 4. The food tray of claim 1wherein the peripheral tabs are defined on the cover, and the peripheralslots are defined on the base,
 5. The food tray of claim 4 wherein theperipheral tabs project inwardly from a lower peripheral wall of thecover that spans around the main cover area of the cover at an undersidethereof that faces the topside of the main base area, and the lockingmember is received between the tabs and an underside of the base.
 6. Thefood tray of claim 5 wherein the lower peripheral wall of the cover hasa cutout therein at a lower edge thereof that lies opposite to the maincover area, and the base comprises a gripping tab projecting outwardlyaway from a peripheral edge of the base at which the peripheral slotsare defined, the gripping tab being received, or positioned for receipt,in the cutout to present a gripping point for removal of the base fromthe cover after removal of the locking member during disassembly of thefood tray.
 7. The food tray of claim 4 wherein the peripheral slotsproject inwardly from an outermost perimeter of the base.
 8. The foodtray of claim 1 comprising a gripping tab projecting outward from aperimeter edge of one of either the base or the cover for use prying thebase and the cover apart from one another during disassembly of the foodtray.
 9. The food tray of claim 8 wherein the gripping tab extendsthrough a corresponding opening in a wall of the other one of either thebase or the cover.
 10. The food tray of claim 8 wherein the gripping tabis defined on the base.
 11. The food tray of claim 1 wherein the covercomprises upper peripheral tray walls spanning around the main coverarea at a topside thereof that faces away from the main base area anddefines a food-carrying surface of the food tray.
 12. The food tray ofclaim 1 wherein the peripheral tabs project into a hollow cavity of thefirst one of either the base or the cover, and the second one of eitherthe base or the cover is at least partially received within the hollowcavity.
 13. The food tray of claim 1 wherein one of either the tray orthe cover features a seat for retaining the seal in the positionspanning around the perimeter of the main base area.
 14. The food trayof claim 13 wherein the seat comprises a trough spanning around thearound the perimeter of the main base area.
 15. The food tray of claim13 the other of the tray or the cover comprises a raised feature thatjuts therefrom at a location residing between walls of the seat in orderto force the seal tightly against the seat.
 16. The food tray of claim13 wherein the seat is defined on the cover.